Does this rifle exist?

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js8588

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So, I've gotten it into my head that I need a knockabout, lightweight rifle that can theoretically do everything from Pennsylvania deer woods work to that "some day" mountain ram hunt.

In doing my research, the Barrett Fieldcraft seemed about right. 6.5x55 (a favorite pet of mine...), 24 inch barrel, stainless all the way around, carbon fiber stock, & sub 6lbs(!) unscoped.

Then I found out the barrel isn't free floated.

Maybe that doesn't matter, & yes, I could always float the barrel etc, but if I'm already paying $1500+ for the rifle from the factory, it should be pretty much as I want it without fear of voiding a warranty.

Fair enough.

I moved on to looking at the Weatherby Mk V Altitude. A bit pricier than the Barrett, but I don't mind saving my pennies & buying quality. Buy once, cry once. 308 win, 22 inch tube, stainless + cerakoted, again a carbon fiber stock, and sub 6lbs. Excellent...

Damnit, the Weatherby also isn't free floated.

Enter the Sako 85 Carbon Light. 308 again, 20 inch barrel (getting a little short for my preference, but I know 308 will do just fine out of a 20), free floated, stainless action/barrel, carbon fiber stock with a soft-touch finish...holy crap, $2800? Well, okay...it'll do everything I wan...wait...the "soft touch" finish apparently wears off easily? Nope. Not on a nearly $3k rifle. Pass.

Gentlemen, I'm out of ideas. Granted, this isn't a gun I need tomorrow (or even this year), but you know how it is...when you decide there's something you need for your gun safe...

I put it to you, does a rifle within these parameters exist?

6.5x55 or 6.5 Creedmoor with a 24 inch barrel (1:8 twist) or 308 with a 22 inch barrel (1:10 twist...yeah, this rules out the Winchester M70 extreme weather, I thought of that too).

Stainless &/or nitride finished barrel & action (cerakote purely optional).

Single stage trigger.

Free floated barrel.

Synthetic stock of at least Bell and Carlson quality OR a laminated wood stock.

6 3/4ths lbs in weight or less.

Under $3k in price.

The closest I see currently on the market is the Browning X-bolt Eclipse Hunter. 24 inch stainless free floated barrel in 6.5 Creedmoor, but the action is "just" blued. I can almost live with that given the price point, but is there a "better" option?
 
http://patriotvalleyarms.com/nucleus-barreled-action/

get a nucleaus barreled action ($1600), call PVA and speak with them on the choice of barrel to meet your weight goals

find a stock you want that is cut for a Remington action with light weight bottom metal ($500ish)
hang a trigger of your choice (timney maybe) ($200)
put a nice scope on it
never look back (priceless)
 
Robert said:
Maybe look at Kimber?
Click to expand...

The Kimbers look interesting. It would be a 270 because they have the incorrect twist (for my preference) in 308 & a 30-06 in a sub 7lb rifle is a bit spicy for my taste.

I've read some mixed reviews on their quality, but...definitely something to consider.

Anyone own a Kimber & have positive/negative things to say?
 
js8588 said:
So, I've gotten it into my head that I need a knockabout, lightweight rifle that can theoretically do everything from Pennsylvania deer woods work to that "some day" mountain ram hunt.

In doing my research, the Barrett Fieldcraft seemed about right. 6.5x55 (a favorite pet of mine...), 24 inch barrel, stainless all the way around, carbon fiber stock, & sub 6lbs(!) unscoped.

Then I found out the barrel isn't free floated.

Maybe that doesn't matter, & yes, I could always float the barrel etc, but if I'm already paying $1500+ for the rifle from the factory, it should be pretty much as I want it without fear of voiding a warranty.

Fair enough.

I moved on to looking at the Weatherby Mk V Altitude. A bit pricier than the Barrett, but I don't mind saving my pennies & buying quality. Buy once, cry once. 308 win, 22 inch tube, stainless + cerakoted, again a carbon fiber stock, and sub 6lbs. Excellent...

Damnit, the Weatherby also isn't free floated.

Enter the Sako 85 Carbon Light. 308 again, 20 inch barrel (getting a little short for my preference, but I know 308 will do just fine out of a 20), free floated, stainless action/barrel, carbon fiber stock with a soft-touch finish...holy crap, $2800? Well, okay...it'll do everything I wan...wait...the "soft touch" finish apparently wears off easily? Nope. Not on a nearly $3k rifle. Pass.

Gentlemen, I'm out of ideas. Granted, this isn't a gun I need tomorrow (or even this year), but you know how it is...when you decide there's something you need for your gun safe...

I put it to you, does a rifle within these parameters exist?

6.5x55 or 6.5 Creedmoor with a 24 inch barrel (1:8 twist) or 308 with a 22 inch barrel (1:10 twist...yeah, this rules out the Winchester M70 extreme weather, I thought of that too).

Stainless &/or nitride finished barrel & action (cerakote purely optional).

Single stage trigger.

Free floated barrel.

Synthetic stock of at least Bell and Carlson quality OR a laminated wood stock.

6 3/4ths lbs in weight or less.

Under $3k in price.

The closest I see currently on the market is the Browning X-bolt Eclipse Hunter. 24 inch stainless free floated barrel in 6.5 Creedmoor, but the action is "just" blued. I can almost live with that given the price point, but is there a "better" option?
Click to expand...

If Barret and Wby both arnt free floating there is probably a good reason. You may want to ask them about it.

honestly id probably look at kimber, a custom build, or maybe see if Barret or wby will sell you a fieldcraft without the barrel bedded.
 
Many manufacturers find that pencil thin barrels shoot better if they are not free floated. The best lightweight rifle for the money is going to be a Tikka. One of the most accurate in any weight class. You can keep one under 7 lbs scoped if you choose the scope and mounts carefully. They use a standard diameter barrel for accuracy and cut weight elsewhere. Price is around $700 in SS.

I also have a KImber in 308. Mine is under 6 lbs scoped and can be quite accurate. Recoil is exactly the same as a standard weight (7.5-8 lb 30-06). A bit snappy, but certainly tolerable. Unless you're going to be shooting 200+ gr bullets Kimbers 308 twist is just fine for 130-180 gr bullets.

But that said, I think it is too light for an all around rifle. It is perfect for rugged steep hunts though. The biggest problem with Kimber isn't that the rifles aren't accurate. It is that few people can shoot a 5lb rifle accurately. They blame the rifle when the real problem is skill. Despite the impressive group in the photo, as a rule I shoot the Winchester below more accurately 9 times out of 10. The Kimber target is an anomaly, the Winchester target very typical. But the Kimber is certainly good enough.
targets 001.JPG

This has been my go-to rifle for the last several years. A Winchester EW in 308 sitting in a McMillan Edge stock. It is 7 1/4 lbs as shown, but I've since gone to a different scope and it is now 7.5 lbs. and is quite accurate too. I find somewhere between 7 lbs and 7.5 lbs a good compromise on an all around rifle. Not too heavy for most hunting, yet enough weight to shoot accurately.

2013 cohutta 014.JPG

targets 004.JPG
 
As some have remarked Barrett and Weatherby probably have a very good reason for non floated barrels. I would be more interested in their accuracy potential, and suspect both will be "up there" in the practical hunting realm.
 
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I might add the Bergara Mountain rifle. 6.2 pounds. I have their Stalker version in Creedmoor and am very happy with it. Expect to pay about $1800 or so.
 
This really doesn't seem like it's as tall of an order as it's made out to be. Many, many choices out there even among ordinary rifles that would do just fine and still weigh 6.5 lbs or less....

As far as free floating the barrel is concerned, like others have pointed out, free floated barrels don't always shoot the best, especially when your talking about a light weight barrel profile. It's cheaper and easier to float a barrel than it is to properly bed it which is why many are floated... Not being free-floated isn't really much of an issue on a big game rifle when it's stocked in a stable material....
 
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So, I've gotten it into my head that I need a knockabout, lightweight rifle that can theoretically do everything from Pennsylvania deer woods work to that "some day" mountain ram hunt.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a lot of rifles. Off the top of my head, I’d likely use my 7-08 model seven. Wouldn’t feel as bad if it took a hit on the ram hunt and I’m not as sure footed as I once was.

I free floated the barrel on it years ago, used a roll of sand paper, if you want a larger OD roll up more, smaller OD unroll it a bit, taper roll it tighter on one end.
 
I haven't checked, but I'd say to check the Tikka T3x Lite or Howa's mountain version. I think Weatherby Vanguard has an ultralight mountain version as well. Those seem to be below your budget and I wanna say that I assumed they were free floated. So I'd at least check there if you haven't already.

Or.... But buy a cheap stainless Savage Axis, and swap the barrel, trigger, and stock to basically build your own... But who knows how that would work out...
 
This might be a stupid question but.... any reason why you can't just pick up a Savage with an accutrigger, and drop it in in the stock of your choosing? Looks like the 110 Lightweight Storm is stainless, just under 6 pounds, and WELL within your price range. I know Savage doesn't have the sexynesss and wow factor of some of the more expensive rifles, but they are accurate, and isn't that kind of the important part? The rifle in my avatar pic is a 111 without an accu trigger, in 30-06, and even though I'm not that great of a shooter, I've been able to bang 6 inch steel plates at 600 yards from prone.
 
Free floating isn't evil but it isn't always the path to greatest accuracy either. A synthetic stock and pressure bedding can be very accurate AND very stable.
 
If you are getting decent groups (whatever suits you as "decent") without a free-floated barrel, why worry about it?

Of my four bolt guns, two are free-floated; two are not. All four shoot sub-MOA, regularly and reliably. So, me and Alfred E. Neuman. :)
 
Free floating is really not that important in a hunting rifle. The issue with a pressure pad is that your zero might shift a bit as the barrel heats up. In a hunting situation you shouldn’t be shooting enough to heat up your barrel to any significant degree.
 
The 270 is one gun that has a wide range of bullets that can be loaded 85 gr to 160 gr that a gun you can use for any thing. Savage makes some very accurate gun that does NOT you a lot of money.
 
Seekins Havak PH1 - it’s a DEEPLY fluted barrel, so it weighs remarkably little for its contour diameter. Comes with a Timney 510 single stage adjustable trigger, mine came in a McMillan Game Warden stock (new models may have a Seekins made stock?). Integral recoil lug, lugged 20MOA scope rail, threaded muzzle w/cap, AI pattern mags - even AW. Fluted bolt, DLC coated from factory so it’s slick as snot. Rock Creek 1:8” barrel. Mine is a 6 Creed, but 6.5 Creed and 6.5 PRC are available.

Absolutely love mine for a hunting rifle. Runs very effectively as a Precision Rifle competition rifle too.

ETA: it’s full free floated, pillar blocked, and lug & tang bedded, from factory.
 
Wish it was available with straight flutes; the spiral doesn’t float my boat. Other than the aesthetics of the barrel, the Seekins looks sharp.
 
the page i linked repeatedly notes "built to order". i presume that means you could easily request no flutes. may add weight but may also reduce the price slightly.
 
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